Dave Seaman is one of those people you probably hated in high school — incredibly multi-talented and extremely likable to boot.

Seaman co-founded Stress Records and was formerly editor of Mixmag. His production team Brothers in Rhythm has received the International Dance Music Award for Best Producer, and their current remixes include Alanis Morisette's "Uninvited" (City of Angels), Placebo's "Every Me, Every You," and Garbage's "Special." And he has secured a residency at Miami's Groovejet, one of the hippest clubs on the east coast.

One to watch? Ha...he's one to learn from.

This interview with Dave Seaman took place at the Vinyl Boy fashion Show at The Vault in Buckhead on April 14, 1999.

Lunar: What has been your general impression of the southeast United States?

Dave: That's where I first played here [in the U.S.]. In 1992-93, I played at the Beacham Theatre in Orlando, so that was my initiation to America. And I didn't really play anywhere else outside of that for a couple of years. I used to come back to Orlando quite regularly and play Firestone. Now, more recently, I've played Jacksonville, and I've played Tampa, and Gainesville — I've been to Simon's. So I've probably played more down here than I have anywhere else. And I think it has been going on a lot down here...a lot longer than it has around the rest of the States. So I think there's a good history here. It's been good, really good.

Lunar: Since we're at a fashion show tonight...what are your thoughts of the influences of fashion on the scene in general, and do you see any differences between the influences of fashion here in the States versus overseas?

Dave: Oh, very much so. I mean, the kind of fashion you have here is the kind of fashion we had in England, back about 1991-92...kind of a very raver, very baggy, free-flowing kind of dressing-down kind of fashion wear. That happened in England in the acid house period of the late 80s and early 90s. And then in England, about 93-94, it changed around and became a bit more glamorous dressing up kind of thing. And that's continued. So people get dressed up a lot more in England than they do here. Not to say that they don't dress up here, but it's more of a dressed-down, baggy, flowing, more sports casual kind of thing. Whereas in England, it's much more about what you wear and the designers — which I'm sure will eventually develop here. Things go round in cycles. We'll probably end up going back to dressing in baggies soon. [laughs]

Lunar: We know things are very different in England than they are here as far as the commercialization of the music goes and how generally widespread and accepted it is...how mainstream it is. Do you have any thoughts on the influence of this music, and the growth of it in the pop culture here in the States?

Dave: I think it will happen, very much so. I mean, in England, when everything first started, everybody wanted to be accepted and taken seriously. And I'm sure that's the same here as well. You want your records played on the radio, you want tv stations to take notice, you want the press to take notice, and that happened in England. And eventually by doing that, it becomes commercial, it becomes accepted. So in England, when it became commercial, everybody said, "Oh, no, we don't want it like that." Well, you can't have your cake and eat it. You want to be accepted, you don't want to be marginalized, you want to be as accepted as rock and roll, as accepted as a major force, and I think it will happen here. It's just that this country's such a vast country, it's going to take a lot longer.

In England, because there's so many people in such a small area, things happen very very quickly. Word spreads very very fast. We have national radio stations. Radio 1 in England now has basically dance music almost all weekend, and when you're exposed to that kind of music so often, then obviously, things happen, things progress. And it's bad in a way, because things don't develop on their own natural pace — they're forced along. The media are always looking for the next big thing. So somebody'll have an idea, and everybody will jump on that idea and it will be milked to death within six weeks. And they'll go on to the next thing. For as over here, it might take a little bit longer...but I think that's probably good, 'cause things will be allowed to develop at their own pace and more naturally.

But it will definitely happen. It's not going to go away. I mean, I've been to places...it's sort of like having a house night, a trance night in New York or in San Francisco, you would expect that. They're big metropolises; if you can't have a house night there, then you're in trouble. I've been to places in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Lafayette, Louisiana, or in the middle of the sticks, and there's 1500 kids going mad. And when you see that you think well, yeah, it's on a big, generally wide level and it's only going to be a matter of time before the media here wake up and really take notice.

Lunar: Can you tell us a little about your latest projects?

Dave: Well, I've worked with DMC for the last ten years, and we've actually just left DMC, still going to work with them side by side — but we started our own company up. "We" being Brothers in Rhythm. We've started our own studio and management company up. And that's what I've been back in England doing for the last few weeks. We're going to make our own Brothers in Rhythm single. We've just done remixes for Alanis Morisette and Placebo and Garbage...hopefully there are a few more remixes planned, although they're not all confirmed, so I can't say them really.

And I've just done a Back to Mind cd. Nick Warren did the first one, which is like an afterhours chill-out cd. He did the first one; I've just done the second one. So that should be coming out in May. And then this summer I'm going to be doing a Global Underground cd from Buenos Aires. That will come out around August time. And of course Ibiza's coming up soon, so another season in Ibiza...looking forward to that too. ... We're going to put a cd out domestically here in the U.S., a Renaissance cd, to coincide with that [Renaissance] tour. So it's going to be a busy few months.

DJ Culture: The Stress Compilation
(mixed by Sasha and Dave Seaman)
Record Label: Moonshine
Track Listing:

1. For What You Dream Of - Bedrock feat. Kyo
2. Last Rhythm - Last Rhythm
3. Happen - All Boxed In
4. Ming's Incredible Disco Machine - Brothers Love Dubs
5. Can't Play Around - Kathy Brown
6. The Mighty Ming - Brothers Love Dubs
7. Call Him Up - Voices Of 6th Avenue
8. The Mighty Ming - Brothers Love Dubs
9. Do It Right - Juice
10. One - Mindwarp
11. Give It All To Me - Hustler's Convention
12. Let Me Hear You Say Yeah - PKA
13. Musika - Lost Tribe Of The Lost Minds
14. You Can't Stop The Groove - Reefa
15. Ming's Incredible Disco Machine - Brothers Love Dubs
16. Boom Pow! - Special Clock